| For the past five years, Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, has been considered a novel of trauma. This thesis confronts the critical consensus that has rapidly developed on this topic, and asks if this is an appropriate assessment.; I begin by establishing a working definition of trauma, using the works of Sigmund Freud, Cathy Caruth, and relevant psychiatrists; I then go on to examine the ways in which Beloved complements these current theories. The second chapter looks at two important aspects of trauma, community and testimony, and investigates how they function in Morrison's novel. Chapter Three is an extended discussion of trauma and the possibilities of healing---here I resist the critical consensus which asserts that healing is achieved in the novel. Trauma, I suggest, cannot be fully overcome. Finally, I conclude by discussing the ethics of rendering an experience of trauma aesthetically. Throughout, I rely on work done on trauma and the Holocaust, as there is no existing work on the cultural trauma of slavery as trauma. |
